Along comes a show on VH1 called “The Pickup Artist.” Yes, worse than “Flavor of Love”, “I Love New York”, and even “Charm School.” The premise: a former nerd turned suave ladies man (pfftt..sorry, hehe okay let’s be serious now) takes 8 average Joes with no success in dating and promises to turn them into pickup artists too.

Sigh.

Okay first of all, I hate this “Mystery” guy (yeah your real name is Eric Von Markovik). I seriously think he time traveled back to 1998 and went shopping at Allston Beat where he obtained the faux-fur pimp hat, black eyeliner, black nailpolish, (umm it was cool when the Crow did it, but not when you do it), and that god-awful soul patch. And don’t get me started on how corny the whole heroin-chic skinny guys with long hair bit is..

Check out the doofy website here for a good snicker: http://www.venusianarts.com/sl/va/VenusianArts.aspx.And if you’ve got $5,000 to blow, you can take attend one of his bootcamps. Or you could give me $5 and I’ll give you my advice: get some exercise, develop your interests, be confident and be yourself. Oh and pluck the monobrow.

The folks over at grey2kusa have fought for years to end the cruel sport of dog racing in America. They are organizing a grass-roots effort to flood Governor Patrick’s office with phone calls this Thursday, August 9th to ask him to stop the installation of slot machines used to subsidize dog racing. Greyhounds are beautiful, loving animals (adopt one!) and reading the stories of abuse and pain they undergo is heartbreaking. Forward this info to your fellow animal-loving friends:

While searching for a new job, I have come across some very strange job descriptions, so I have created a new category of postings: Weird Jobs. This one sounds normal: watch an episode of a TV show and tell them what you think. Until… you see the pictures of the SWAT-like vests?!?!

Study: Get paid $50 to watch an episode of a new network TV show starting this fall.
Company: InnerScope Research (http://www.innerscope.com)
To participate, fill out the following short survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ii9EBIqV4UXmxL1O06OltQ_3d_3d
What we need from you:
* You will wear a health monitoring vest (like a bicycle shirt) under your regular clothing, but over a new T-shirt we provide
* You will watch a new network television show that will air this fall (you may have already seen previews for it)
* You will answer a short survey and some demographic questions
* At the end of the session, we will pay you $50
* Languages: Fluent in English
* Minimal Experience: Have watched American TV for the last 4 years

Want $3,000 to go shopping at Saks? Then go to http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/ and sign yourself up to receive email notifications from them and you’ll be entered in the sweepstakes. After you have entered, you’ll automatically receive a promotional code for 10% off your next order!

Alright all you Harry Potter geeks- yeah you- I see you re-reading Book 6 on the train to work to catch up on the plot in preparation for the July 21st release of the FINAL HARRY POTTTER!! 3 hours, 46 minutes, 53 seconds… watch the countdown on Mugglenet, the best Harry Potter site on the net.

The theories and speculations about Harry’s fate are reaching a fever point. Many think that Harry is doomed to die, because a) the prophecy said that either he or Voldemort must die b) in mythological literature the hero often dies c) so that no one can write “Harry Potter 8″ or some other lame book about what Harry does post-Hogwarts.